Prof. Dipak Sarkar Delivers Prestigious Memorial Lecture in India

Prof. Dipak Sarkar, at right, receives plaque at FIPS Oration in December 2013.

Distinguished Professor of Animal Sciences Dipak Sarkar, who is also the director of Rutgers Endocrine Program, delivered the prestigious 2013 S.K. Manchanda Memorial Oration at the Fifth Congress of the Federation of Indian Physiological Societies (FIPS) in Tirupati, India, on December 17. Selection as Foreign Scientist speaker of the FIPS Oration is the most prestigious honor bestowed by the Federation of Indian Physiological Societies. Sarkar’s lecture was titled “Beta-Endorphin Neuronal Activation: A potential measure to prevent cancer growth, progression and metastasis.”

The Federation of Indian Physiological Societies is comprised of the Physiological Society of India, the Association of Physiological and Pharmacological Society of India, the Society of Animal Physiologists of India and the Indian Society of Comparative Animal Physiology. These four physiological societies send their nominations for speakers for the S.K. Manchandra Memorial Oration/FIPS Oration (for both Indian and foreign scientists), and the final selection is made by the FIPS Executive Committee.

Nobel Laureate Prof. Sir A.F. Huxley delivered the first FIPS Oration on March 16, 1991. The second, third, and fourth orations were delivered by Professors Y. Oomura, Masao Ito, and A. S. Paintal. On November 9, 1998, the FIPS Executive Council renamed the FIPS Oration as the “S.K. Manchanda Memorial FIPS Oration” to honor the late Professor S.K. Manchanda for his contributions to Physiological Sciences in India and FIPS, in particular. This award, bestowed on one Indian and one foreign scientist working in any branch of Physiology, is given in the form of a plaque during the FIPS Congress, which usually takes place once every three years.